How Do You Film a Robot Swordsman? Very Carefully

Machii Isao, whose fame as a swordsman has earned him some viral video attention already, has returned, but this time he finds himself upstaged by a rival who doesn’t happen to be human.

The five-time Guinness record holder collaborated with the industrial robot maker Yaskawa to help “train” its most advanced model, the MOTOMAN-MH24, to emulate his moves. As you can see here, the ‘bot, which has even been used for medical applications, puts on some impressive blade work, carving into everything from bamboo mats to flowers and beanpods.

As you can see from the main image above, even after some extensive training, which included a 3D analysis of the master swordsman’s movements and technique, the cameraman went with a full suit of Western armor. A smart move.